It is no secret what has driven humanity for tens of thousands of years that has led us to building an entire civilisation and colonising the entire planet. It is of course, curiosity and the desire to forever keep expanding.

These are the traits that have ensured that we keep progressing further no matter how much progress we have already made. That is the reason why we have now set our eyes towards space and the different cosmic objects that we could potentially make our additional homes in the future.

Now, consider the development of AI as a whole and the prediction that one day it will become more intelligent than us humans and in a slightly likely scenario, even take over the human race by whatever means and for whatever reasons.

If that happens, it will become the dominant 'species' on the planet, essentially replacing us in every way. If that actually happens, what would it do in regards to space exploration? Do you think it would want to explore the cosmos the same way we want to?

AI The Explorer?

For us, the motive is clear. We are curious beings and it is for the advancement of scientific knowledge that we seek to explore, which is true for space exploration and all the activities associated with it as well.

But what motive would a highly advanced AI be driven by? On the surface, it doesn't seem like it could have something akin to curiosity given that it would only be a computer software of sorts. The only thing that would be obvious is its intelligence. But would that be enough to make it want to build rockets and go explore the cosmos?

It could be. After all, information is a vital part of intelligence and if the AI had a 'desire' to become more intelligent, it could want to go out there. Since the biological limitations of humans wouldn't be a problem, it could do a lot more in a lot less time.

There are even hypotheses that suggest that alien civilisations in the universe might be some sort of artificial intelligence lifeforms. It is logical to think that any biological civilisation would sooner or later invent computers which would lead to artificial forms of intelligene. From there, either they could merge with the AI or get replaced by it. Whatever the case, AI could be the dominant entity in the universe.

Ultimately I think it would depend on how the AI in question was programmed in the first place. Or would that be redundant if it gains super intelligence since it could reprogram itself anyways. This sure is a tricky one to answer!